Liz Brady

RPI women’s lacrosse senior Liz Brady’s mind was already made up well before the NCAA awarded an additional year of eligibility for all spring sports student-athletes after this year’s campaigns were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Brady missed the 2018 season because of a torn ACL, and she is planning to return to RPI next year as a graduate student.

While her college career has included its share of obstacles, it’s also included numerous accomplishments. The latest is that Brady, who is from Bradford, Massachusetts, is one of the three college recipients of the inaugural Capital District Sports Women of the Year, while 10 area high school athletes are also being honored.

“I’m really grateful for it,” Brady said. “It’s a really cool honor. I know it’s the first time that they’ve had this award. I think it’s really cool to be a part of the inaugural class. It’s one of those things that I didn’t do alone. I honestly had my team and my coaches, all of RPI athletics kind of with me.

“It’s really humbling to get that, but also really cool. I didn’t do it alone. I did it with my team.”

Brady is bio medical engineering major and has a 3.10 grade-point average in that. Her GPA for the fall semester was 3.55. She will go for her MBA next year and looks to go into the medical device and orthopedic field.

“I was actually planning on getting my master’s at RPI, so I will already be there for a fifth year,” Brady said. “I had an extra year because of my torn ACL. That was also in the back of my brain, depending how my body made it through the [2019] season.”

The torn ACL she suffered was the second of her career. The other one happened in high school. Going through the rehab process after the first torn ACL helped her get through the second one.

“The first time I did it, it wasn’t ‘if’ I’m going to come back, it was ‘when,’” Brady said. “The second time when I was there, I was in the same mentality, where like, OK, this kind of sucks and it’s not fun, but now I know what I have to do. I already knew what the road was like, and I recovered well from my first one. I’m just like, ‘All right, it’s not going to get better until I have surgery.’ I just went for it. I went to Boston, had surgery and was rehabbing. I was able to run before the season ended, but was able to be with my team the entire time. They also made a difference because I was still traveling with them and still a part of everything that we did.”

Away from the field and classroom, Brady is part of the RPI sports information department, working as photographer. It’s a relaxing job for her.

“I’ve always enjoyed taking pictures,” Brady said. “I love working with them. The sports information staff is amazing.”

Brady participates in several community activities, too. She is proud of the projects that take place with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

“That includes the Special Olympics days,” Brady said. “That’s been one of my favorite events. I have a couple of cousins who are special needs. I grew up going to their Special Olympics events. As I got older, I volunteered at them.”

This article appeared in the 2020 CDSWOY Awards Program on August 18, 2020.